The weekend of 17/18 May 2025 saw the 2025 SA RCL State Championships held in Mawson Lakes Model Yacht Club, in Adelaide.
The winner ~ Brad Hein 333, in convincing style, for his third consecutive year. Congratulations Brad!
Second place Mark Stockhausen 165
Third place Darren Cathie 297
Congratulations and well done to all competitors!
Fourteen sailors representing five different clubs across SA and Victoria arrived at Mawson Lakes in cold and wintry conditions for the first day of racing. With an apparent air temperature at midday of 11C, and rain squalls, even the Portland YC sailors went looking for a jacket. One of the nicest parts of any annual regatta is arriving to meet old friends and catch up with the news.
A busy team of sailors and volunteers spent the morning setting up the control area on the upper terrace, a gazebo for shelter, whiteboards, tables, chairs, and drinks etc, before we all tucked into a lunch of sandwiches and wraps, cakes and fruit, and drinks.
Race briefing followed at 12:30 with a welcome and introduction by regatta coordinator Peter Murfett, followed by a detailed race briefing by the regatta RO, Geoff Beacham.
The first race was an ‘Invitation Race’ of a single lap of the windward-leeward course to give everyone a chance to settle in, clear the nerves, give the RO a look at the course angles and time spent on course, and to confirm that the start and finishing procedures were all working as required. And then it was GAME ON…
All boats chose A rig in breezes that were predominantly light and variable, but with gusts that swirled up to 15kn at times, rounding boats up and out of control.
The RO was faced with the stuff that keeps RO’s awake at night…gusty breezes with big shifts, periods of no breeze whatsoever, rain squalls, and significantly, confined water on which to play. Despite all this, the best possible windward-leeward course was set, with a hitch mark at the top, and a leeward gate. We sailed six 2-lap races on this course, before the RO added a wing mark for the final race of the day to test our game skills.
Milestones during this first session occurred after race 4 which gave us a ‘drop’, after race 5 which gave us a ‘series’, and race 7, when we’d all had enough for the day and were keen to head over to the local pub for the regatta dinner ASAP.
Sunday morning we awoke to a forecast of a cold but sunny day with light breezes, and the BOM got 2 out of that 3 right. A short briefing from the RO, the course was set and it was GAME ON – DAY 2. Again with A rigs and breezes of 8-15kn, the fleet got underway, with a spectacularly tight racing session of 11 more races on a windward-leeward course. Fleet positions changed constantly, big gusts caused mayhem, but things all got sorted out in the wash. If you didn’t laugh…you’d cry. So we laughed. https://www.facebook.com/100006295839654/videos/pcb.2468106763552231/1002316092062479
At the end of day 1, Brad Hein 333 from the Portland YC led the field in a strong position, followed by Tony White 389 from sailing@Lightsview, and in third place Gary Hein 342 from Portland YC. But on day 2, in changed sailing conditions, the fleet shuffled, and with Tony White having to unfortunately retire from the regatta due to gear failure, a new top end of the fleet emerged.
Tony then swapped his boat for his camera and very large lens, to take a series of fantastic photos which, along with a large collection of photos taken by Gerry Giebel, can be viewed at https://www.facebook.com/groups/sailingatmawsonlakesgrouppage
If anyone would like a copy of a particular image file please let me know.
Racing concluded around 1315hrs and while having lunch, we acknowledged and thanked the many volunteers who worked together to make the event a success.
Prizes were presented by MLMYC Club President, Chris Levi, who further thanked everyone for their efforts, and extended a warm invitation to all to join us again at any time.
What was good about this regatta?
“The camaraderie between RCL sailors is strong”.
“Racing was tight”.
“Race management was excellent”.
“Lunches were great”.
“It was a great chance to catch-up, and meet new friends”..
“We can’t wait for the next one”.
Thanks go to the MLMYC Board and the RCL Committee for event organization, along with many club volunteers who stepped up and helped out where needed.
Peter Murfett
RCL Coordinator
MLMYC
